Fresh Start, Full Heart

*Edit*
Woohoo, my crazy heart has been featured on Craft Gossip!

Howdy How!

How've you been, my dearies? Oh my goodness, I've been gone from this space for so long, it's hard to figure out where to start this post, how to explain my absence. I had so much to share with you back when it was still fall, like my best friends wedding, our trip up to see the leaves change in Hope Valley, pumpkin carving with my nieces & nephew, and so much more.  

December whirled by, as its wont to do, full of busy fun, too much food, and lots of visiting, not to mention all the making. I wanted to share those times with you too, but the days just flew. By the second week of December, I'd resigned to take the rest of the year off from blogging to concentrate on being present in those fleeting moments, trying to soak it all in, but I still meant to pop in and say hello. We spent Christmas in Tahoe with my brothers family this year, so much snow! 

New Years came and went, and left us feeling... not well. January was not kind to me, friends, I am not sorry to see it go. Most recently, I've been struck with the dreaded flu that's making its rounds, and my poor hubby has bronchitis... again. I don't remember ever being so sick, this flu is beastly! Oh, then there was that whole "oh-god-i-think-i'm-having-a-heart-attack-what-is-going-on-i'm-too-young-to-die!" episode at the beginning of the month, in which I was rushed by a co-worker from my office to the EKG machine to see what the hell was happening to me. I think I understand the phrase "my life flashed before me eyes" in a way I never did before. I do not wish to repeat it anytime soon. Needless to say, much of my month was spent in various doctors offices, laboratories and waiting rooms. Thirty-eight year old females are not prone to heart attacks, after all.

Lol, what fun! 

HAHAHA... NOT.

Yeah, goodbye January, smell ya later!

And now February!

{{deep breath}} 

A fresh start! A new beginning, MY new year!

I'm ready to begin anew, to start taking better care of me and my slightly broken (but still mighty) heart! And to get back in the swing of things here on my blog, too. Speaking of hearts, the little cutie pictured here is something I've worked on a few evenings recently. Crazy quilting makes me swoony, and although I don't think I'll ever really be great at it, I sure do enjoy playing with it, and that's just what I did here, play! A little bobble I made for myself, I think it's cute.

I'm looking forward to catching up with you all! I've been lurking this last week, peeking in on so many of your blogs, peek-a-boo! I've added a TON of photos to my Flickr account, if you're curious about catching up with me too, there's lots of new things to see over there, please feel free. 

So here's my question, how's winter treating YOU? Are you well? Did ya miss me as much as I missed you? Heheheh...

Do tell!

oxo,

Lisa   

It's My Birthday!

So I'm having myself a little party in the fairy garden to celebrate! 

Care to join me for some cake and a spot of tea?

Small charms from my local bead store are perfect for this party. Naturally, I had these in my stash, they came home with me years ago!

I whipped up this little cake for myself last night, cutest darn cake I've ever made! Such a simple and quick project too, a bottle-cap pincushion in the shape of a cake. There's so many possibilities for these types tiny pin cushions, the last one I made looked like sushi! 

This wee birdbath is the latest addition to the garden, it holds just a few drops of water, I love it.

I made the little bunting out of some felt scraps from another project (yet to be revealed), easy peasy.

Here's the cake in my grubby little mitt so you can get a better idea of the size.

A vintage hankie makes a great picnic blanket if you're 3 inches tall.

The fairy garden has filled in SO much since I first planted it a few months ago! You can't even see the rock path that was once so prominent. I have to trim it back pretty regularly and rescue the little furniture before it's completely grown over, it grows so fast! 

I have another reason to celebrate too, my fairy garden was chosen as one of the winners of The Magic Onion's 2012 Fairy Garden Contest, yayyyyyyy! There were 153 entries, can you imagine having to choose? I'm so honored to be one of the winners! I've won an adorable, hand-stitched fairy from Alkelda Dolls, and I couldn't be more pleased, I've admired her dolls on Flickr for some time. 

I think the garden at night is still my favorite, it's its own little world in there. I want to shrink myself down like Alice and stay the night in my cozy fairy house. 

Tonight my husband and my mom are taking me out to dinner at my favorite Italian place where they have the most amazing, fresh tomato salad during the summer months. The tomatoes are grown right there in their own kitchen garden, it is wonderful, I can't wait!

Have a great day, dearies!

oxo,

Lisa

What Is Home?

Hi All!

So, here's something I made several months ago that I've been waiting to share with you. This piece was made as a submission (my very first!) to an art show that my pal Ellen was curating in Los Angeles, it was called Home Is Where The Needle Marks. The show was comprised of stitched pieces and textile work, exploring the theme of the word "home" and what it means to different artists. The show has now closed, and was a great success! My piece was not used in the show, but now that the show is over, it can see the light of day because it holds some powerful truths... 

Are you ready? Can you handle the truth?

{snort-giggle!}

Oh. Yes. It. Does.

Upon submission, applicants were asked to fill out an Artists Statement (yikes!). The following words are my artists statement and the meaning behind the piece... This is kind of an over-share, and I'm a little nervous putting this out here into the big, bad internet, but it's good to be honest, and if I was prepared to share this information with the world in an art show, surely I can share it here with you guys.

Home Is Where The Bra Comes Off

by

Lisa Leggett

Embroidery gives me permission to go slowly, one stitch at a time. For a woman who hurries through everything, stitching is a gift of time that I give to myself. A reason to sit still, calm my rushing mind and still hope to achieve something beautiful, funny, or useful; sometimes all at once. Embroidery is my meditation.

I try to approach life with a sense of humor, from the best news to the worst; no problem seems as serious if you can laugh at it. Whether what I’m working on is pretty, whimsical or subversive I enjoy a good laugh, and I try to incorporate humor into everything I do.

Home is where the bra comes off. Not only something to garner a giggle, but an unbending truth in my life, one which I believe many women can relate too.

I haven’t left the house without a bra on since I was in the 3^rd grade, I was seven years old. All at once my body developed, and it was no longer ok to go to school or anywhere else, without wearing a bra.  I didn’t feel grown up, perhaps the way some girls might, but rather slightly ashamed and embarrassed.  My budding boobies must be bundled up, and they must stay that way! That was 30 years ago. Home for me, is where I feel safe enough to be unguarded, to remove that armor and be free of the straps, hooks and wires. Home is many things to many people, myself included, but maybe one of the best things about home is that, home is where the bra comes off.

So... yeah... that. I'll be even more honest here; most days I'm dying, literally dying to get home and get this damn thing off. I hate it. Days when I don't put on a bra at all are like a vacation! Please girls, tell me I'm not alone in this? Being rather, ahem, "well endowed", bras have never, ever been comfortable for me. They are a necessary evil. They hurt my shoulders, they pinch, they poke. They are the devils work.

Right? Right.

This piece was a stretch for me even though it looks simple, I don't do cross stitch very often (oy, the counting!) and don't feel like I'm an artist, so modifying a font to the right size to be seen from a distance, and a developing a border which all lined up properly was a challenge, but one which I enjoyed. I don't know what I'm going to do with the piece moving forward, right now it's just chillin' on a shelf in my craft room... I'm kind of getting used to seeing it there, maybe I'll just leave it. 

What do you think, girls?  How do you feel about your bras? Are they a cage or a comfortable familiar? Do tell! I am always genuinely curious how other women feel about this subject. I'm looking forward to your comments!

oxo,

Lisa

p.s.

OH! I've been featured on Craft Gossip!

Check it out!

Corny, Corny Corn Dog

UPDATE!
8~7~12
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!!! This piece is being featured on Mr. X Stitch today!! I'm floored, FLOORED I tell you! So honored and humbled and grateful, and truly, truly gobsmacked! Here's the linky should you like to visit.

Happy weekend, chums! 

We made it though another week, whew!

Today I thought I'd show you what I stitched for the next in the series, the 5th of 11 embroideries for the Spring Fling Tea Towel Swap I've been participating with some of my stitchy pals. This is for my friend, Bascom. 

Bascom and I concur, nothin' beats a corn dog, don't you agree? 

I like mine with mustard.

Careful of the stick, guys. I've been known to poke myself with these dastardly sticks in my rush to devour (because I'm a piggy, oink!).

Like the piece I made for Jack, I used chain stitch as a fill stitch for the crunchy, bread batter layer. Round and round I went until I filled up the corn dog. I love chain stitch as a fill, it's like getting two rows of stitching for the effort of one, and it's fast.

For the mustard squiggle,  I used six strands at once and chained the right amount of condiment right on top of the bread, then satin stitched over that to get that mustard to really stand up off the corn dog.

This is kind of making me hungry...

I love this silly embroidery and corn dogs are awesome. Happily, Bascom likes this corn dog almost as much as the real thing, woohoo!

This was a fun embroidery, I almost want to make a whole series of junk foods. I wonder if I could pull off a taco truck taco...{thoughtfully scratches chin}. Those are almost as good as corn dogs... almost!

So what are your plans for the weekend, pallies? Anybody going by Der Weinerschnitzel? I'll buy if you fly!

oxo,

Lisa